Debate in the Paint: Pacers Were Least Productive This Summer

Posted Sep 22, 2009 10:30AM By Matt Steinmetz (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Pacers

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team did the least this summer to improve.

Put it this way: I'm just not feeling the Indiana Pacers' offseason. It's not that they haven't done anything, it's just that what they've done isn't much. There have been a few unimpressive offseasons -- with the Knicks, Warriors, Bulls, Heat and Nuggets coming to mind – but we're going with Indiana for least productive.

It's one thing to sit tight if you're knocking on the door to an NBA title and it's fine to simply tinker if you're a playoff team or knocking on the postseason door. But neither of these really describe the Pacers, do they?

Povtak: Knicks Spent Summer on Sidelines

Sure, there would be some who disagree. They'd say that the Pacers are coming off a 36-win season and just a little more improvement should get it done. Danny Granger's getting better and Mike Dunleavy's coming back.

But we're not buying.

On draft night, the Pacers went the safe route with Tyler Hansbrough, a player who may never make a significant impact and certainly won't his rookie season. And be honest -- do you ever see him being an impact guy?

It's also tough not to see the Pacers paying the price for losing Jarrett Jack, who started 53 games a year ago. As a starter, Jack might leave a little something to be desired, but as a third guard or perimeter player coming off the bench, he's not bad.

Jack's not a star, but he's solid and above average defensively. That's where the Pacers are going to miss him because T.J. Ford and Earl Watson are liabilities at that end. The acquisition of Dahntay Jones will mitigate things a tad there, but Jones can't guard ones like Jack could.

It's obvious the Pacers are crossing their fingers that Dunleavy returns to health after missing most of last season with a knee injury. Dunleavy says he should be ready for the start of camp next week, but who knows how the knee will react?

Dunleavy said on his blog the other day that he was "freaking out" after he experienced pain in the knee after working out. Dunleavy was reassured later by the team's medical staff that there was nothing unusual with the kind of pain he was having. But Dunleavy's knee figures to get a lot of attention this year.

There's also another little gnawing issue and that's coach Jim O'Brien. He's been known to wear a little bit on players after a few years, and this would be Year No. 3 for him in Indiana.

And they don't look much better than they did the first two years.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-22-2009 @ 8:55PM

Giles said...

This is one competition the Knicks, so far, are winning, hands down. Jones was a starter for Denver. What starters have the Knicks added? They traded for a reserve from the powerhouse Memphis Grizzlies, signed a reserve from Boston, bought a low first round pick the Lakers didn`t want, as if the Lakers are cash poor! And they haven`t signed, and probably shouldn`t sign, Curry, Harrington, Lee, and Robinson. Maybe Charlotte will switch that $5.5 mil offer from Felton to Harrington, give the Lakers a 2nd pick for Fisher, and the Lakers will sign Felton for Fisher`s salary, or less. The Knicks could resign Ewing, Jr., and add Wilkens, Jr., Barry, Jr., and Karl, Jr., four notable basketball names (due to their fathers). And the NorthWest division needs to add big markets (not happening any time soon), and quality players, though Phoenix and Houston need centers to replace the dealt off and injured all star centers they no longer have. Lee would help most any team, including the Pacers. But even the top teams need to improve. With Wild West less marketable now, CleveLand needs to see if they can package Williams and maybe a back up forward or draft pick for a power forward who can shoot, because James and O`Neal can`t hit from middle distance on out, and Williams can`t guard big wing guards like Bryant and Carter.

9-25-2009 @ 9:33PM

Aarena said...

I see you do a good job of studying the Internet for blogs and such to educate you on basketball matters. It's obvious you have ZERO idea on what's been going on at Indiana...did ya even watch one Pacers game last year? Be honest, you didn't. Your giving Jack WAY to much credit as a defender. The guy can't keep anyone in front of him. He's like a turn style. It's been quoted several times by Obrian, Bird, and other TRUE basketball minds that Ford was BY FAR our best defensive point guard. He lost his starting role to Jack because he wasn't swinging the ball the way coach wants in this offense....and you said Jones can't defend the 1 like Jack hahahahahahaha. You just lost ALL credibility as an analyst. Just ask CP3 how well he can guard the 1. Hell, Ford can do better. Plus we have another tough minded 1 defender in Watson who is better than Jack. Don't feel bad though fella, your just another product of this fantasy basketball generation. You have no idea that teams have different components, you just dig in to stats. I bet you thought Malone and Payton going to the Lakers a few years back was pure genious from Jerry Buss. Looked great on paper didn't it? Do you also remeber the thumping they recieved in the finals from a far less talented TEAM...the Pistons. I bet you wouldve have dragged Donnie Walsh's name through the mud back when he drafted Dale Davis in the 1rst round. Not enough of a stat guy for you...some players just add intangibles that a team needs. You'll figure it out when you get older, wiser, and stop using stat lines to evaluate talent. P.S. The Pacers are positioning themselves to make a push for free agency after the 2011 season. Check the books, you can go to realgm.com and look it up. You may also learn some things from their FAR more educated analyst. I'll check back on what you just wrote when the season is over...if you still have a job that is...I can't see anyone continuing to pay you for that sort of analysis.

9-25-2009 @ 11:40PM

Guess I should, cough, choke, cough, try to be fair to the Knicks now. They have signed David Lee. Not an addition, but prevention of a significant subtraction. And it was Shaq who recrutied Karl and Gary, though Mitch signed them. Jerry owns the team. Jeannie`s cute (his daughter). They looked good on court, not just on paper, until Malone`s injured knee finally locked up and he couldn`t play. Lose the best pure power forward ever, so far (Tim Duncan is trying to compete, but Karl played very well a very long time, if Tim beats him it is going to take a while), it makes a difference. And the Lakers weren`t deep enough to cope. Fox didn`t comeback from his injury, kept a reserve spot but couldn`t play anymore. Even coach Jackson went out, injured. Maybe if they`d kept Pargo they could have played small ball when Malone went down, moved Bryant up to forward, rotated Payton, Fisher, Pargo at guard. They should have had better depth. But the lack of outside shooting, adding inside scoring Malone and Payton, didn`t hurt them when they were healthy. Still, role players are key. Satchamo Sanders won 6 championships, Jim Luscutoff won 5. Elgin Baylor played the first 8 games for the Laker championship team, but retired with a knee injury long before they won, so never played on a team when it won the championship. West one half as much as Chamberlain, once thanks to Wilt. Robertson won once, thanks to Jabbar. Teams win, teams lose, not superstars. Indiana has some guys who can play, Murphy, Granger, even Dunleavy when healthy. The guards were mentioned. One problem is Granger and Dunleavy are both wing forwards, so one has to play out of position at wing guard, a bit awkward, or power forward, a bit soft, and Dunleavy is a bit brittle. They addressed the power problem with Hansbrough, the backcourt speed with Jones. We`ll see if it is enough.

9-26-2009 @ 3:43PM

Giles, my comment wasn't directed toward you. Solid analysis on what's going on with the Knicks. I would be hesitant to call Maline best power forward ever. Especially not in clutch time. It's hard to say who the worst clutch player was, Ewing, or Malone. Both of them had a tendency to shatter backboards if the shot was a game winner. I've heard Magic Johson (my favorite player ever) say the best power forward was Kevin McHale...who knows. My earlier comments were directed at Matt Steinmetz...the writer of that ridiculous and uneducated article above. The guys a moron! Go Macab Tel Aviv!!! Huh Matt

9-26-2009 @ 6:44PM

Thanks, Aarena. I actually did think it might be about me when I first started reading, and wouldn`t have been entirely inaccurate about me, either. But I figured out as I continued reading it was about the article. As the stats bloggers know, I guess, or maybe they don`t, McHale often early released, relying on Parish, Bird, and later Walton, to get the boards. But he could score. Good free throw shooter as well as good field goal percentage shooter. Unfortunately, since Chamberlain left the Harlem GlobeTrotters, and Lucas left the Knicks, in `73, all to often all someone has to do is throw mud at the Knicks, and one way or another it`ll tend to stick. My family used to live in Indiana, before I was born, WAY back, when there were 3 teams! Indianapolis, Anderson, east north east of Indianaoplis, and Ft. Wayne, north east north of Indiana, where the Pistons moved from to get to New York. So even though I don`t get along with my brother, who was born near Purdue University, I like it when the Pacers do well, though they haven`t excelled all that much since the ABA days themselves, despite Reggie Miller having been a terrific perimeter shooter.